


I Found Love Where It Wasn't Supposed To Be

by ShyLittleWriter



Series: You Brought Hope Into My World [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: ARE YA READY KIDS?, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, I really pulled the ANGST with this one, I truly am, I'm Sorry, Not A Happy Ending, but sometimes you just need to get that angsty idea out there, did I mention the angst?, no, no you're not, please don't kill me I swear I'm a Catradora stan, totally forgot to add this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27996429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyLittleWriter/pseuds/ShyLittleWriter
Summary: Catra has died.For the past 5 years, Adora has mourned over the lost of her, not truly understanding how to move on.Until one day, the warning of a threat appears, leading to a portal being opened and an exact replica of Catra appearing, claiming she comes from a different universe where Adora was the one that died, dooming everyone at the mercy of Horde Prime.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Castaspella/Juliet (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Series: You Brought Hope Into My World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188554
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to this fanfic.
> 
> My name is Brooke and if you are new here, welcome and if you are interested you can check out my other stories. If this isn't your first rodeo on my page, welcome back. Always nice to see you here :)
> 
> For some context, this story is based on a prompt I had bouncing in my head for the fucking longest that basically was "Character A lives in a universe where their loved one died. One day, a portal appears and from there comes out an exact replica of their loved one, Character B, who claims to come from a world where THEY were the one that died."
> 
> I truly hope you enjoy it :)

Adora mourns.

She mourns the death of her best friend, the love of her life, the one that was meant for her. Mourns for missed opportunities and words unspoken.

How could she imagine this be her future?

Her friends try, but there is no use. Catra is dead, and with her, died a piece of Adora.

For the past 5 years their group had changed in small ways.

Glimmer and Bow got married, deciding that for the near future they would focus mostly on their relationship, not feeling ready for children just yet. The couple had long conversations with both their parents, getting advice on how to behave and handle a child, preparing themselves mentally for the possibility.

Perfuma and Scorpia started a relationship, adopting Frosta as their unofficial daughter. The teenager was more than ecstatic when she moved to Plumeria alongside Scorpia.

Assigning a trustworthy adviser as the temporary ruler of the Kingdom of Snows, Frosta finally had the opportunity to be something that was taken from her a long time ago: a normal child. Growing in a time of war, being put on the control of an entire kingdom took a lot of her freedom, something she was enjoying every moment she got.

Castaspella had started to spend a lot of her time in Bright Moon, her visits becoming more frequent around 3 years ago. According to Glimmer, it was because she believed her aunt had something with their general, Juliet. No confirmation had been given by either woman, but they all could see the way they acted and behaved when the other was around.

‘Good for her,’ Micah used to say, ‘I don’t remember seeing my sister this happy in my life. If she’s happy with Juliet, then I wish nothing but the best for them!’

Entrapta had been helping Hordak rebuilt the Fright Zone, alongside the wonder trio, as Mermista liked to call Kyle, Rogelio and Lonnie. The water princess never would admit it out loud, but she had developed a special care for them after learning the conditions of their upbringing.

Sea Hawk and Mermista - they remained the same. Clearly in love with each other, but bickering all the time.

Almost as Catra and her had been.

No.

This was not the time or the place to dwell on her sadness, too much was to be done.

But what was that ‘too much’?

The clones have been reinserted in their world, some easier than others. To Entrapta’s happiness, she was allowed to explore and catalog all the tech Horde Prime had sent for the destruction of Etheria.

The happiness in the older princess’s eyes when Mermista hugged her sideways, letting her know all other princesses expect her to keep them informed on the progress made, a silent promise they would be keeping in touch with her, was new to Entrapta, overwhelmed by the love showed.

These brief bursts of happiness were starting to become insufficient to keep Adora afloat.

She knew well how much Glimmer tried to encourage her to accept help, but in vain. Somethings were better left in the past than constantly brought to the present: her growth in the Fright Zone, the constant need to be reassured of her value, back when she was still needed as She-Ra, the fear of knowing she could potentially never again find the happiness Catra had reassured her Adora was worthy of, were just the tip of the iceberg of things left untouched for so many long years.

Bow was the first one to learn it, when he accidently stumbled upon a conversation between Lonnie and Adora about the punishments they endured when Kyle failed in their trainings. From there, all grew to realize the deepness of their bond.

“Jeez guys, I hope you know how sorry I am you all had to suffer because of me…”  
  


“Don’t look at us like that, Kyle. We’ve said it before and we say it again. No one gets left behind,” they said, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulders, “not even the weakest.”

She had failed her promise.

Catra was left behind.

**She** left her behind.

Adora mourns with the knowledge that nothing can be done to overcome the ache.

*****************

Someone came knocking at her bedroom door.

It wasn’t unusual by now.

Mostly, it was either Glimmer or Bow. They always knocked to let her know they would be entering the room. It consisted of a quick visit, worried she’d been spending too much time inside the room, talking about the news of the day and distracting her mind from dangerous thoughts.

She had not been spending that amount of time locked up, she would retort. Some days were harder than others, and as everyone knew, Adora didn’t have the best track record at talking about her problems (bless Perfuma, for changing that aspect in her years prior).

Scorpia and Sea Hawk tended to calmly walk towards her, sit next to her sides and from time to time ask how she’s been, even if the answer never changes. They friendship grew tremendously after the whole fiasco in the Frozen Wastes. Adora enjoyed these little silent visits. It relaxed her to know she did not have to talk about her feelings.

Sometimes she just wanted to be in silence. Both her friends understood that well.

Mermista, Perfuma and Frosta always came together, forcing her out of the room, leaving no space for discussion. Despite many protests, Adora enjoys these rare moments, given they happened when the bad days prolonged into weeks.

When these moments happened, they never forced her out of the castle parameters. Adora believed it had to do with how some people still refuse to accept Catra’s death affected her in deeper ways than she liked to claim, or the simple fact Catra was never a true enemy, but a misunderstood soul who never was given a chance to prove herself.

That had been the main reason why Scorpia and Adora became so close. They knew what it truly meant living in the Fright Zone, being treated as a soldier more than a person. The abuse, the constant pressure of being the best. Catra understood that as well, better than anyone. They both knew Catra was different than the ideal people had created about her, but the lack of a redemption to the eyes of the public made it harder to explain things.

Looking at the door, she spotted Entrapta, followed by Hordak.

Entrapta was out of breath when she reached Adora. The older princess seemed to try and talk but kept lacking air to get the words out of her. Hordak waited for Adora’s confirmation he could walk inside the room in order to tell her the news.

Their presence in Glimmer’s kingdom was always rare, so seeing them not only there, but clearly in a hurry, was like an alarm that wouldn’t stop ringing.

“Entrapta, Hordak, welcome. I haven’t seen you two in a while. What brings you to Bright Moon?”

“Adora… I can’t…”

“I’ll tell her, if you’d prefer Entrapta. After all that running, you must be tired.”

Adora curiosity spiked.

Entrapta, running? She was certain this was a first for the princess, given she did not remember ever seeing the older woman run, other than in danger situations. Allowing time to recover, Adora placed her hands on her hips and waited for Entrapta to take a deep breath.

“Ok, I’m ok. Hi, Adora. Do you remember when I warned you about the possibilities of opening a portal that could lead to the destruction of the worlds if the calculations weren’t correct, especially after Catra opened the portal that lead to Queen Angella’s entrapment? And how we promised to never try that experience again, given the chance of a repeat of last time…”

“Entrapta you’re not making any sense. What does that have to do with you showing up here?”

“Well, I’ve made some improvements on Darla’s system, by the way say hi to Darla,” Entrapta shoved a panel on Adora’s face with the small logo she had seen on the First Ones ship.

“Uhmm hi Darla?”

“Hello She-Ra,” spoke the mechanical voice. Gosh, it had been what? 2 years since the last time anyone called her She-Ra?

“Like I said, I’ve made improvements on Darla and she said there was activity in the temporal zone that resembled a tear on the continuum of time. This is fascinating! Someone is trying to open a portal to our world. It’s still too early to say how they managed to do so or even where these creatures are from. What we can be certain is that it should appear here, in Bright Moon by next month. We’ve calculated the exact location the portal will open and we’ve come to warn you to be prepared.”

Adora didn’t know how to react to this sudden warning. It had been so long since anyone tried attacking Etheria and now they had a sudden warning of a possible outbreak with little time to prepare for whatever was to come from this sudden arrival.

“Thank you for telling me this. Have you warned the others?”

“Yes, Mermista wasn’t very happy when we told her, but I think it had something to do with Sea Hawk more than the portal itself. Scorpia and Perfuma asked us to let Glimmer know they would also help,” said Entrapta with a smile.

“Queen Glimmer and King Bow both have thanked us and offered a stay here at the castle to keep them updated on the status of the situation,” added Hordak, “We’ll be initiating the preparation of a new portal based on what little we have to go, and it seems there is beginning of army preparation in case these are truly intending to take over Etheria. We still have the data from our first experience so we are certain we can replicate it without the risk of endangering others.”

“Very well, thank you. Both of you,” said Adora having at them, as they left.

Entrapta wanted to continue on her explanations, her discoveries, but all the past interactions with Adora showed her, in these times, she preferred to be alone. Mentions of Catra would be rare in front of Adora.

‘It’s still hurtful to her,’ explained Glimmer.

Entrapta didn’t fully understand it, but she knew enough to respect Adora’s wishes.

Looking at Hordak, she signaled at him to leave the woman alone. He opened the door for her and with one last look at the blonde, they left in the direction of their room.

Adora knew they meant well.

In the first 2 years, Adora had managed just fine, hiding all she felt deep inside her. Once things started to settle, everything came crashing down with it.

Micah at taken to himself to teach Adora how to handle the nightmares, the fear and the ache he knew very well she felt.

As he had explained to Adora once, ‘I came from the dead to learn my wife was gone and my little daughter was a grown woman. I lost it all and gained everything all at once. Better than anyone, I know what it’s like to be in your shoes’. He had been wonderful, and Adora could never repay him all done for her.

Castaspella had also taken a maternal presence in Adora’s life, showering her with love and affection, something she never truly received by Shadow Weaver, she could understand it now.

She wished Catra had been here with her, to receive this form of love with her and from her.

***************** 

It was a bad day.

Adora knew it, when Hordak barged in her room screaming something related to the portal. Time was at the essence so he only had time to explain she was needed on the field and that the portal would be open sooner than expected.

Entrapta, on her end, was going wild.

The portal somehow managed to create a connection to their world, making all her machines haywire without a previous warning. It seemed impossible; their calculations told her they still had one week to prepare for this arrival.

At least the portal was already prepared, and the location of this tear was of a fair distance from the closest civilization. It would not cause any major damages, like the last one. At least, she hoped it would not.

"I can't be certain on why and where this connection is coming from but from my analysis and the studies Hordak had about his previous attempts, there are too many ramifications that could lead to the original source and given that Darla's circuits have determined that this will open in less than an hour I don't have time to study if anyone is coming from it," explained Entrapta, typing away on her computer.

"We'll just have to be prepared for the worst," explained Bow.

Glimmer and Bow stood next to Adora, transformed into She-Ra. Mermista was standing a bit far away, next to Perfuma and Frosta. Scorpia was close by, more as a precaution to whatever was to leave the portal.

Sea Hawk had been in charge of contacting Castaspella, Micah, Spinnerella and Netossa given that this portal was not supposed to be open so soon.

The familiar wind began forming around the area, bringing back the past memories of a time where Adora was still tied to the Horde by familiar strings and Entrapta was – well, being herself.

A dark figure started to shape in the center of the portal, rapidly approaching, forcing everyone to a defense position. The group was in dead silence, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Moment such that never came.

Before any action could be taken the figure stumbled out of the portal and feel unconscious on the floor, leaving those around it with their mouths hanging open and surprise expressions on their faces, for in front of them stood a figure that resemble an exact replica of their dead friend, Catra.

It was as if time stood still.

How was this possible?

The quiet was broken by Spinnerella, followed by Netossa.

Micah and Castaspella appeared not shortly after, being taken by Swift Wind and Sea Hawk, ready to attack. A group that also stood still once they got the opportunity to view the motive behind the stillness of the front attack.

The first one to break the silence was Scorpia.

“We need to get her out of here. Laying on the floor isn’t good for anyone. Might as well take her back to Bright Moon, place a protection spell around her, just in case she decides to strike out, and wait for her to awaken.”

“Scorpia is right,” added Glimmer, “there is no use of us sticking around, looking at each other and waiting for answers. Swift Wind, will you please take her? Scorpia will travel with you as well, to keep this…person from falling down.”

“Yeah. Let’s hope this situation can be resolved easily,” motioned Scorpia gently lifting the fainted being, mumbling about how she was clearly much heavier than their Catra.

All eyes shifted to Adora, worried carried around them. No one knew very well how to react to this event, and they were certain this was bound to make their friend break.

The anger grew fast and Adora couldn’t contain herself from speaking up.

“I get it! It’s Catra. Maybe not our Catra, but still, I’d like to think the people around me would have a little bit of faith in my self-control than to think I’d break down at the slight mention of my dead lover!”

After the outburst, Adora, still transformed into She-Ra, left in a quick pace, ignoring all appeals and request of await, behind followed by Micah. The rest stayed behind, guilt rising around them.

It was no one’s intention to assume the worst, but even after 5 years, there still moments when Adora shut down at even the slightest mention of her. Over time, they uncovered ways to know if she was having a bad day and needed her friends close by, or to just be left alone.

Inside the palace, back as Adora, she punched the wall in a burst of rage, regretting it instantly, when the pain rush through her arm.

Micah created a spell around the area, protecting it from causing more damage or hurt someone. He would eventually ask someone to fix it, but at this moment Adora needed his attention more.

He waited a few minutes, watching Adora mumble to herself and looking as if she was ready to get into a fist fight with all those hand movements and balled fists.

Walking inside a random room, Micah stopped himself for a few moments.

‘Oh, the irony,’ thought he, walking inside Angella’s old room. After his “death”, the Queen couldn’t bring herself to return to their coupled room. ‘It was closer to Glimmer’s anyways,’ justified herself. Micah used the same room, in a way to feel closer to her spirit.

When she sat on the bed, he knew it was his clue to jump in.

“You still mad about that little incident back at the field?”

“It’s not that! I’m just tired. I know they mean well, but I’m working on moving on, getting better at handling my grief. Pretending Catra never existed because they worry about how I might react isn’t the way.”

Adora once again sat on the bed. It was too much to handle and all she wanted was to run away and pretend none of this ever happened.

But she couldn’t.

Her heart wouldn’t allow her to stay away for too long. After a short awkward period of silence Micah asked.

“Do you remember how I was acting when you, Bow and Entrapta brought me back from Beast Island? Even my own sister was worried about mentioning Angella. And trust me; Casta NEVER had a problem with voicing her opinion. At the time, I also thought that this was not the right way to address the situation. Pretending doesn’t solve the problem, only hides it until eventually it blows up in your face. But in the end, I had to accept the true reason people acted the way they did was because I never opened up about my feelings. I had just learned my wife could possibly be dead, my daughter had been taken by some alien tyrant and the only salvation the people knew was She-Ra, that for some odd reason had destroyed her sword. It may have taken some time, but I learned to trust those around me again and open up. Adora, trust me when I say, I never blamed you for your choice since that’s what it was. **YOUR choice.** So I think, if you truly want the group to be honest with you, then you need to also set the example and open up to them.”

Adora was trying to find the right words to express how she felt, but couldn’t. Micah seeing her difficulty smiled and hugged her tight. Promising there wasn’t the need for her to try and say anything, just to sit there and give his words a thought for a while. 

He knew Adora had been needing this for a while. Someone that truly understood her situation. Guilt rose in Micah, for waiting this moment to happen in order to say anything, but there was no turning back. He just had to wait and hope he had managed to get through to her.

“Would you like to come with me? See how our guest is doing?”

“Yes. Thank you, King Micah.” 

“Always kiddo,” laughed Micah, leading the way.

Passing by Juliet, they were informed Catra’s lookalike (‘shapeshifter’, as Juliet had taken to treat her) had been taken to another room, given the healers advice she needed extra rest from the exhaustion she presented.

Insisting on taking them there, Adora made a comment on how King Micah ‘might start getting a tailor ready for suiting sessions. It seems a weeding is close by’. Micah contained his laughter, nodding his head in agreement.

Inside the room, all eyes were on the tech princess as well as Hordak. Even Wrong Hordak had joined them, asking his ‘brothers’ what was the meaning of all that mess.

Entrapta was explaining the possibilities of where and why this lookalike had stumbled through their world, as well as reasons for the lack of rest she presented, gesturing with her hands in the air and smiling widely about all the knowledge she might present them about her world and the things existent there.

Adora had to laugh. She was glad the other princesses had grown to understand her better, herself included.

Her presence known, all eyes turned to her. Glimmer was the first to get closer, apologizing for her reaction, the others following closer. She lifted a hand to quiet the voices, accepting the apologies given, but explaining despite being a subject that needed to be discussed, the moment required their attention be shifted on whoever this was.

Mermista addressing the possibility this be a shape shifter, just like Double Trouble who targeted them specifically with Catra’s looks in order to gain their trust.

“But what if it’s not?,” questioned Entrapta with a sad look, “What if she truly is Catra, just not our Catra?”

“Then we’ll learn what she wants and if she’s a trustworthy person, then we’ll help her get back to her world. Entrapta, can you work on getting the portal to work the other way around, and fast? Instead of acting as an exit point, to work as an entrance point? If it is proven that this is not some trap, I’m certain this…version would enjoy being able to return to wherever she came from,” responded Adora.

Entrapta’s eyes started to glow with stars, a thousand plans forming around it. Hordak knew that look very well, giving her a small smile in knowledge he will help her in whatever she needs. Leaving the room with the promise they would do the best they could, the group thanked them all at once for their effort.

Spinnerella and Netossa agreed to swing by later on, given that was the day of their anniversary and they wanted to enjoy the rest of the time they had to be alone.

Mermista made a sarcastic comment about ‘alone time’ to Frosta, making the teenager hold her laugh. Perfuma and Scorpia threw a glance at each other and called for the Ice Princess, claiming to have been a stressful day and being in need of rest. Sea Hawk and Bow snickered at each other as well, saying their goodbyes as he left alongside Mermista, being followed by Wrong Hordak.

In the end, all that remained were Micah, Castaspella, Juliet, Adora, Glimmer and Bow. 

“Well, if you won’t mind Adora, I would like spend the night here with Micah. Like it was already said, we don’t know if this is an ally or an enemy, even if they look like an ally. Our magic is strong and if things go sour, we’ll put her to sleep again,” asked Castaspella

“You won’t hurt her?”

“No. We know how important this is for you. We promise not to hurt her, unless given the necessity to protect ourselves,” promised Micah.

“I’m staying here alongside you,” mentioned Juliet, getting closer to the duo.

“This could get seriously dangerous,” said Castaspella, worry dripping from her voice.

“This isn’t up for discussion, ma’am. I’m staying here.”

The Squad pretended not to see the little blush rising in Castaspella face, taking their attention towards each other.

“Thank you. Glimbow, let’s give them some space,” clapped Adora, pointing at the door afterwards.

“I’m going to forbid you to spend any more time with Frosta. She’s starting to rub off on you, with those weird names and words,” jokingly threatened Glimmer.

Adora laughed at her friend’s comment, seeing behind the fake complaint. Outside the room, the couple wanted to talk about how Adora was handling the whole thing and she could tell there were burning with questions. Micah’s words were still resonating around her mind.

Inside Glimmer’s old room, and changing to comfortable clothing, the group prepared for a night of fun and reminiscing on old memories.

Glimmer learned new details about Bow and Adora’s adventures during the times she couldn’t travel with them being responsible with ruling Bright Moon as Queen, whereas Adora got some funny and embarrassing stories from when Bow and Adora first started their friendship.

The lasted story to be retold was that of when Bow decided to introduce Glimmer as is girlfriend to the family and how his brothers couldn’t stop calling her ‘Your Highness’.

“Oh god, that was the worst. They were so worried I’d get them executed or something. Your parents on the other hand, were already planning our wedding!”

Adora continued to laugh at her friend embarrassment, not being able to hold it down. It was a good change of all the continuous struggle to keep herself distracted. The mood quickly changed as the couple felt Adora tense up, even if she herself hadn’t noticed it.

“How are you Adora?,” wondered Glimmer.

“I don’t know. It’s been so long but it still hurts, which doesn’t make sense, because I’ve been hearing ‘times heals everything’. Well, if it does heal everything, why haven’t I healed already?”

“Because you haven’t allowed yourself to do so. For 2 years, I saw you shut all of us off, isolating and pushing us out. Not once did you cry or talked about what was it like in that moment. On that ship. You didn’t open up, and then when the clones and the robots and the people of Etheria were finally at peace, you didn’t give yourself the chance to let that go. You keep holding onto that grief, in my opinion, because you’re scared that by letting it go, you’re letting Catra go, but trust me, you’re not!”

“Bow is right. Letting yourself be free of the pain isn’t the same as letting yourself be free of the memories. They will always remain with you with the difference you’ll feel lighter. The tears won’t evolve your eyes and you won’t feel so tired all the time, because you’d be getting rid of all that dead weight you carry on your shoulders,” added Glimmer hugging Adora, followed by Bow.

They stayed this way for a while.

When the time seemed right, Adora interjected.

“I own you an apology. Both of you,” said Adora, with her head down, “I’ve been acting as nothing is wrong for all these years and I’ve never considered how you might have felt seeing me in such state, not knowing how to talk to me or what to say in front of me…”

“Adora, we get it. You’re mourning, and it takes time to heal from something so difficult as to lose someone you love. Especially the way you did. We can’t say we don’t have our fair share of guilt in how we’ve been handling your grieving, but it’s time to accept our mistakes and acknowledge that we all made things we regret.”

“Bow is right. It’s been long time for us to have this conversation. I guess the worry we would cause more harm than good prevented it.”

“If I’m being honest, I have to admit that the way I’ve behaved today was exaggerated. I was just so angry at the way you’ve been walking on egg shells around me for the past years it all came tumbling down once we saw that the person that walked out of the was Catra.”

“Are you really THAT sure that is Catra? We haven’t discarded that possibility of this being a shapeshifter who happened to pick this form.”

“I can feel it. Deep inside me. It may not be my Catra, but this is definitely some version of hers.”

“Then we believe in you as well.”


	2. Chapter 2

2 days later, Micah felt something was different.

Someone was watching him (years of living on Beast Island will improve your instincts, he would say) and without warning, grabbed a nearby staff, creating a wave of magic that threw the watcher onto the floor.

Quick thinking took over him as he slowly approach, who he now knew, was the lookalike.

“WHAT THE HELL?”

“Speak foreign. What do you want from this world?”

“Ah great, is another of THOSE dreams…”

Micah knew better. At least he should, it is what Castaspella will tell him after they have the chance to talk privately, but alas he did not.

Because after hearing the words out of this person mouth, he put down the staff and slowly approached her.

“What did you say?”

Micah took the opportunity to discreetly cast a truth spell onto the lookalike. If this were in fact a shapeshifter, they would not be able to fool him.

“Ugh, we get it apparition. I fucked up, they died and it’s my fault. It’s been almost 9 years, no need to keep bringing it up!”

“I…I don’t…”

“Also, did you really had to pick him? If you truly wanted me to be wrecked, you should have picked Scorpia, or little Frosta. Hell, even Mermista would be a better pick than the dude I met for what? 5 seconds? You’re losing your touch, apparition.”

“Why do you keep calling me ‘apparition’?”

“What else am I supposed to call a dead man? Resurrection? Besides, this is my dream, why the fuck am I even discussing this with you?”

“You’re…not dreaming. You’ve travelled through a portal, fainted from exhaustion and we’ve been healing you with magic for 2 days,” said Micah, pointing to a sleeping Castaspella, sitting on the lap of an also sleeping Juliet.

“Huh. Gotta love how my own dreams give everyone a happy ending but me,” snarked Catra’s lookalike, with a spark in her eyes and a small smile on her lips.

“How do you know my sister?”

“Again, really apparition? I’ve spent the past 9 years seeing these two stubborn heads dance around their feelings worse than Adora and I. At least in my dreams, she grew some balls and told the woman her feelings. Good to know she’s corresponded.”

“Look, whoever you are, this isn’t a dream. I have already told you what happened. Besides, you haven’t explained what you’re doing in our world or even HOW you got here!”

While calmly talking towards Catra’s lookalike, his hands were placed in front of his body, in hopes she would notice he was not there to hurt her. Something about her behavior and body language said there it was more underneath the surface and this lookalike clearly went through more than they imagined.

Many questions were running in his mind, taking his attention from the lookalike for a few minutes. What did she mean by 9 years? Where did she knew Castaspella and Juliet? And what was that story about them ‘dancing around their feelings’? Not to mention the constant mention of dreams. Did she truly believed she was simply dreaming?

“OI, APPARITION? For someone who’s soooo interested in learning about me, you sure as hell ain’t paying attention…,” contempt the lookalike, sitting on the bed and swinging her feet on top of it, placing her hands against the headboard to protect her head.

She must have felt uncomfortable, because as quickly as they went to the back of her head, she pulled her right arm to the front, analyzing the screws and bended metal connected to her elbow.

“I’m sorry, please remove your feet from the bed. Why do you think this is just a dream?”

“Why are you even asking?”

“Do you have anything to lose by telling me?”

“Touché, apparition. Well, long story short, ever since Adora died my guilt has been eating me alive over letting Shadow Weaver manipulate me enough that I let the woman I love sacrifice herself in vain, and by consequence, dooming all Etheria. You died, alongside Mermista, Scorpia and Netossa. Three years later, as a form of punishment for the Survivors insistence on fighting against him, Horde Prime kidnapped Frosta and broadcasted her murder. She was 17. I let a kid die. Why? Because I needed to avenge Adora. Because I couldn’t just let everyone down, not again!”

Catra’s lookalike voice proceeded to rise with every word, rising from the bed in a hurry and punching the nearest wall with all her strength using her right arm, loosening a few screws in the metal prosthesis.

Just as he did with Adora, he let the lookalike take out some of her anger, not being able to discuss any further with her, since Juliet woke up and instinctively wrapped Castaspella around her tighter, worried she might fall off.

When seeing the lookalike had awoken, Juliet looked at Micah. He nodded his head in denial, pointing discreetly at Castaspella in a silent request to not wake her up.

Request that served no purpose given Castaspella started to curl further into her lover, lifting her head with a smile on her face and mumbled a hoarse “good morning”.

“Morning, sleepy head,” joked the lookalike with a huge grin on her face, “Glad to know at least in my dreams you’re getting some.”

“Jules, I think I’m going mad. I’m hearing Catra for some reason.”

“You’re not going mad, my love. The shapeshifter has awakened.”

“Damn, this is definitely the weirdest dream I’ve ever had.”

“I’m sorry, kid. But this needs to be done.”

And with a swift movement of his hand, Micah placed Catra’s lookalike back to sleep, grabbing her before she fell on the floor.

“How long has she been up?” questioned Castaspella.

“Not too long. Maybe an hour, less even.”

“She needs to eat. Our magic isn’t enough to keep her alive only on sleep.”

“She will. But there’s clearly a lot to be explained. She kept talking as if this was all a dream. Saying it had been 9 years, something about how Adora died and all the others who were chipped. It was so strange, as if it was her reality. Not to mention the things she said about you and Juliet.”

“What? How does she know us? And what does she know?”

“Oh, not much. Just that apparently it’s been 9 years and you still not being honest about your feelings.”

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. But I’m certain Entrapta will explain everything to us later on.”

Leaving the room to go change, Castaspella tried to find an excuse to the scene he had witnessed between her and Juliet, but her brother gave her a hug and his blessings to be with the General, stating she had made a wonderful choice in trying something with her. After the surprise, Castaspella was relieved to know her brother had her back as usual.

She also warned Micah about Adora and her constant trips to check on the lookalike. Micah agreed that it would be better to keep her updated on the new discoveries but preferred it be done after the lookalike had restored her energies.

“Really Mic? She probably has plenty of questions…”

“Questions that won’t be answered unless this shapeshifter eats. Trust me, my love. Food goes a long way to win an opponent’s trust,” advised Juliet, following Castaspella, “Trust your brother on this one.”

“Fine. But if we are not telling Adora, then we’re not telling anyone else either. Last time was enough for me to see that Adora deserves that from us.”

The three placed a new spell around the room, one that isolated the room from exterior noise, in hopes this would prevent the lookalike to wake up before they returned.

Juliet stopped on the way to ask some of the other guards of the castle how things had been going, if any other threats had been spotted or even if Princess Entrapta had given news about the origin of this shapeshifter. Nothing had been discovered yet.

Micah and Castaspella had taken their time to grab some food for the lookalike, taking a variety of fruit, bread and water (how long had it been since the last time she had a proper meal?)

In a matter of minutes, they were back in the room once again, dressed and prepared for answers.

Unfortunately for them, so was the lookalike.

They were some obvious differences between this lookalike and the Catra they knew. For starters, this lookalike lacked her right forearm, replaced by a metallic replica who did not seemed to be very efficient on its function.

She was also much taller than the one they knew. Few inches past 6 feet tall. Her hair was short and greying, some of it due to old age, other was dust accumulated from what they assumed was the conditions in which she lived. Her clothes were ripped and old, signs of the years passing by them. She seemed well cared for, even for someone who had been living at war for years so far.

“I see you’re up again,” mentioned Castaspella.

“Where am I?”

“You’re in Bright Moon, the Kingdom ruled by King Micah and his daughter…”

“No, don’t give me that bullshit. Micah is dead. Glimmer lost Bright Moon on the Battle Of the 23rd. Now tell me the truth, WHERE. AM. I?,” demanded the lookalike, pointing her metallic hand at Castaspella.

“Keep those hands far away from my-the Queen,” warned Juliet pointing her sword at the lookalike, “I will not hesitate to use it if necessary.”

“Don’t even try, Juliet. I’m under Shadow Weaver’s spells, right? It’s the only explanation for all this shitshow,” assured the lookalike turning to the skies, “WELL GUESS WHAT BITCH? YOU CAN’T HURT ME! YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO HURT ME THE WAY YOU DID BEFORE, BECAUSE I’M NOT BREAKING MY PROMISE TO ADORA!”

“Shapeshifter, listen to me!,” Juliet grabbed Catra’s lookalike and forced her to look at her, “You are NOT dreaming! You came through a portal, using the face of a dead friend of ours, and we took you into the castle to help you heal. This is in no way a trick or a manipulation. This isn’t your world.”

“What are you talking about? Portal? I didn’t….”

The sudden return of the memories sent the lookalike to the ground, grabbing her head with strength from the pain. It was all returning.

Castaspella screaming ‘attack’.

Hordak grabbing her to another room.

Entrapta giving her a forehead kiss with a ‘we know you can find a solution’ and a quick push from Hordak to a hug. ‘Be strong Catra,’ said he looking at her with a soft smile, ‘you can do this.’

The arrival, alongside with the tiredness and lack of energy were too much for her, having as a last memory the eyes of both Hordak and Entrapta widening as the walls burst open behind them.

The tears did not take long to arrive. Letting herself fall onto Juliet’s body, she grabbed the near piece of clothing and cried.

Her friends, the people she trusted for the past 9 years, they were all gone, Horde Prime had probably won and here she was.

Juliet let her cry, caressing her back in soothing ways. She may not trust them completely, but she too had lost people in the war. She would not judge a grieving person for being in this state.

“I let them down,” mumbled the lookalike in between sobs.

**************

It had been a few hours since the lookalike regained her memory. She had already fed herself, shyly asking for more since it had been a while since she was able to eat at peace.

Everyone had already gathered in Bright Moon, waiting for their opportunity to get some answers from this Catra.

“Would you like us to leave you alone for now? We need to tell the rest of the people about your awake and…I’m sure you will need time to prepare for who you’ll meet,” questioned Castaspella.

“What do you mean?” she questioned.

“I’m not the only one you know that supposedly died back at the world you came from…,” responded Micah.

“…no.”

‘This is going to be a tough one,’ all thought.

Given the lack of an answer, the trio prepared to leave the room, but the lookalike took both Castaspella hand, preventing her from moving forward.

The plead in her eyes let her know she did not wish to be left alone, and Castaspella knew her lover would not let her be with this person, fearful of her intentions.

Rolling her eyes, she notified her brother they would be in there if there was need of it. Micah made a weird face, that caused the lookalike to laugh a bit, growing when Castaspella replied ‘It’s a woman’s thing’.

Micah shrugged, leaving them be. Inside the room, it was quiet once more.

The realization that in this world Adora would still be alive left a trail of questions to be answered, the main of all: was she happy?

Had she been able to recover from the grief and pain she herself lived all through the period of 9 years? Had she moved on and found someone to love her the way she loved the one that had died back in her world?

Heavens, the simple mention of ‘her world’ left her head spinning. This was not her world; these were not her friends and the Adora that was certain to come through the door was not **her** Adora.

“How is she?”

“Physically? Recovered. Emotionally? It’s still hard. She grew up with our version of you, shapeshifter. She loved her and, in an instant, she lost her. That’s something that takes parts of you to the grave. You lose something deep inside when someone you trusted parishes,” explained Juliet, “I think the reason behind her difficulty to move on is because she hasn’t allowed herself to feel. For the past 5 years, I’ve only seen her cry a few selected times, all those starting because she didn’t accept your departure or the denial of her feelings.”

“5 years? It’s only been 5 years in this world?”

“We can’t explain it as well. We’ll just have to wait for Entrapta to explain herself.”

Catra allowed herself to feel happiness. Maybe these weren’t her real friends, the one that fought alongside her, but at least it seemed her Entrapta was right. They had won the war and maybe, just maybe, they would help her world win as well.

“So, you two huh?”

“You still haven’t explained this whole ‘you died and Castaspella and Juliet aren’t together’ thing”, remarked Castaspella

“I come from a place where Horde Prime won. It was all a trick from Shadow Weaver. Horde Prime had found out about her and they used her abilities to manipulate all of us into thinking that shit of a Failsafe would work. Well, as you can guest, it didn’t. Things only got worse from then on. People died, kingdoms were destroyed and overthrown by Prime. Without She-Ra…we were powerless. It became a matter of how long you can survive, rather than how long until victory.”

“You mentioned Micah died. How?”

“Prime had managed to chip a lot of people in our group: Mermista, Scorpia, Spinnerella, Micah. Prime learned from Shadow Weaver what Entrapta planned to do with her computers and stopped her. Hordak managed to save her, but it was too late for the rest of them. The virus had spread to their nervous system and Prime took that as an opportunity to take them out.”

Neither woman interrupted her while she took a few breaths to calm herself down.

“You…at least the version I know of you escaped by a miracle. ‘My’ Juliet seemed to had taken Castaspella under some secret tunnels and fled the castle with a small group of soldiers. They found us and helped us create strategies to keep our asses safe. It was obvious something was growing between them two, but I never said a word. Kind of wished I had now. At least they would die knowing someone they loved, loved them as well.”

“You seem to speak of experience.”

“I told Adora I loved her before taking her into the Heart. The last words I spoke to her.”

“Did she reply?”

“She said she loved me too, and she couldn’t wait for all eternity to be with me. Her wish didn’t come true.”

The lookalike rose from the bed and walked to the window, admiring the trees, the people and the atmosphere surrounding this strange world. How she wished one day to be able to obtain this view back in her world.

The sound of an opening door forced her eyes to meet blue ones. The uncomfortable silence settled among them, the knowledge that this was the impossible turned possible.

The resemblance was so large, both Adora and Catra had difficulty to say a word. She had walked in the room alone, the others agreeing to see her one by one as to not overwhelming her.

What do you say to a dead person?

To someone who wears the face of your dead lover?

Neither women knew.

“Hey,” both awkwardly replied, hands moving in the air with no purpose.

“Have you eaten yet?,” their Adora asked offering a piece of bread to her.

“Yes. Thank you. I appreciate your concern.”

“I take it your name is…”

“Catra. Yeah. And yours is…”

“Adora.”

Silence returned once again. Neither knew how to overcome this strange impact of seeing someone they thought lost forever return to life. Catra stared silently, while Adora observed her.

She was taller than her Catra. Taller than herself, given Adora’s calculations. She was also much stronger, her arms built identical to Huntara’s size. Her right arm replaced by a metallic one, scars shaped around the end of her flesh, indicating it had been ripped off by a strong blow, an explosion Adora assumed.

She was leaning on the windowsill, in the way Octavia used to do when her leg was hurt during training. Adora figured something was wrong with her knees, given the constant bending she did with her legs.

“What happened to your knee?”

“Nothing much. Being on the run wears you out at some point.”

‘She’s perceptive,’ though Catra, ‘she hasn’t been in the room for 5 minutes and already noticed something is wrong with my body. As if having my Adora’s face wasn’t enough, she also had to have the brains?’

“Do you remember how you got here?”

“Yeah. Was a bit confused when I woke up, but my brain is working fine now. Entrap – My Entrapta, the one back in my world was the one that sent me to this world. According to her calculations this was the world with the closest ramification tied to ours and from her analysis you would have the technology to help us get and advantage against Horde Prime.”

“What makes her think we could help?”

The group had already been informed of the basics from Micah, so the mention to other worlds and different versions were not unfamiliar, besides having had the time to adjust having someone who resembled their dead friend, walking around the castle.

Catra’s lookalike continue to explain the reasoning behind her Entrapta’s thinking, impressing all three women with her speech and eloquence.

‘My Catra never talked this way,’ though Adora, ‘But then again, my Catra was never interested in technology the way this Catra seems to be.’

Catra’s lookalike finished her explanation asking for their help to not only return but to destroy Prime, once and for all.

Juliet rose from the bed and shook the lookalike’s left hand, promising to try her best to help as she could, even if it wasn’t much. The fact she had used the name ‘Catra’ showed she was serious on her promise.

Adora joined the promise, stating she too would help with what she knew. This may not be her Catra, but she deserved to be with her family, the way she had been for the past 5 years.

Diving into it, the four discussed the possibility of Catra’s lookalike talking with the rest of the group, or at least a part of it, since all had their own questions to her and her life in the other world.

Catra’s lookalike explained she rather see them all at once, getting over the initial shock. She was already mentally reminding herself these weren’t her dead friends revived, only a parallel version of them. They may resemble them, but they weren’t the real deal.

“You certain of this? We understand if you need time. I think out of all of us, I’m the most qualified to say it,” expressed Adora.

“Listen…,” the lookalike took a deep breath and calmed her heartbeat, “Adora. You aren’t my friends. You may have their faces, but you’re not my friends. And you are not MY Adora. Is it hard to see and hear your voice? Yes. It’s ripping me to shreds just standing here and seeing your face. But I also understand that there is no return to the past. The best I can do now, is try to return and save those who are alive and live my life the way my Adora would want me to. So yes, I want to see all of your group at once. Let them in, please.”

‘She’s right. We aren’t the people she knew. The same way she isn’t the Catra we knew,’ pondered Adora.

She thanked Castaspella for her hospitality, wishing she could retribute in some way. Juliet joked she could repay by not being a pain in the ass to them, to which the lookalike laughed.

Would they be prepared for the encounter? Adora couldn’t tell. Only after they brought her to their presence would it be possible to have an opinion on it. Even Catra’s lookalike was shaking with anxiety, wondering how the rest of the meeting would go.

Adora had so many questions for her. So many wishes to understand how this was even possible. But the lookalike’s words resonated in her, reminding her that this wasn’t in fact her Catra.

Just someone who possessed her look and voice.

There the obvious differences in her, such as the deficiency and the height. Some visible scars here and there, signs she came from a warzone, one that seemed to have been lasting for the longest time.

There were also the hidden ones, like the way she kept her body straight, the constant darting of her eyes as if waiting for a surprise attack to come, the hands close to her hips, wrapped in a belt that kept a weapon at hands reach.

This was a person trained to be a weapon, and from the looks of it, a damn good one.

Catra’s lookalike also noticed the smaller details this Adora had compared to hers. She had blue eyes, in oppose to the brown ones her Adora had; she was smaller and a bit skinnier than hers.

That detail, Catra assumed, due to her version’s death. She too had sunk deep, but after a while was forced to pick up the pieces and survive for the sake of those in her protection.

This Adora also seemed friendlier. Her aura, as her Perfuma would say, was vibrant and positive, as if those around her were wrapped in a warm bubble of heat and love. Her Adora was more reserved and military driven, rather than emotional.

Castaspella opened the door and explained to the group they could come inside.

Frosta was the first one to run inside, hugging the lookalike with all her strength. Screaming she was sorry, that she regretted all the bad things said and done to her by the princess and if given the chance, she would take them back in a heartbeat.

The teenagers attitude surprised them all, no one realizing the teenager carried that weigh with her for so long. But then again, she had been a kid when their Catra died. If they carried the guilt and remorse of watching someone closer to them die, Frosta’s teenager mind would probably not be able to process it the way they did.

Scorpia tried to explain this wasn’t their Catra, but the lookalike lifted a hand and stopped the taller princess.

“It’s alright. I understand.”

The lookalike let the princess cry herself for a few minutes before backing away and taking her face in her hands. Her eyes looking directly into the younger princess’ eyes, she smiled at her, wiping the tears with her left hand, scared to hurt her with the metallic one. Heavens knew that wouldn’t be the first one.

“Hey Frosta. That’s your name, right?” the princess nodded, “You’ve been keeping that inside of you for a long time now, haven’t you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have burst through the door and made this scene. I know I’m not the Catra you knew in this world. But from what I’ve been able to see, in the short time I’ve been awake, she was very loved. And I’m also certain, that even if you never used words to express them, she knew it in her heart, how much you cared for her. Her body may not be present but trust me when I say that her spirit still lingers, whether be in the ceremonies in her memory or the moments of heartache when you apologize for not expressing your feelings with words at the time. Wherever she lays, she knows.”

The room was in tears by now. They all had their regrets in relation to Catra, so many memories of a time where she was the common enemy, so many missed opportunities to show her that given the chance she would be accepted in their open arms and heal from the past.

This may not be their Catra, but it was a relieve to know a version of hers bearded no harm to them.

“Alright, my turn now!” cried Scorpia trapping both Frosta and Catra in her arms, both laughing at the princess attitude.

“I see your Scorpia is a hugger too,” commented Catra.

“Was I? Back in your world.”

“The best hugger to live.”

All had their chance to ask questions to the lookalike: what was it like back there? Did you build this arm? How did you do it? Is Swift Wind as annoying as he is in this world?

She answered them all, even the most difficult ones, such as how the chipped ones had died, what life was like under Prime’s control and what had happened to her arm.

They listened closely, paying attention to all details. Entrapta would sometimes interrupt with technical terms that Catra would recognize and engage in extended conversation. The older princess didn’t pick on the subtle change in the air surrounding her, enjoying the presence of someone with her knowledge on tech, even if that person looked too much physically like Catra.

Catra, on her behalf, was losing herself in the whirlwind of emotions. Seeing those who have departed back in her world was taking a lot more of hers than she expected. Keeping herself afloat was becoming a harder task than predicted.

Maybe not in this world, but back home, with the ones left behind, she could someday sit on the floor surrounded by her friends and enjoying the peace and quiet while reminiscing on old memories.

After the laughter had quieted down, Catra took a deep breath and regained courage to ask the one question she had been burning to know.

“How did I die?”

A pin could be heard drop on the floor by how profound the silence in the room was. She knew this had killed the joyful mood around them, but sooner or later she would have done it. ‘Might as well get over it already,’ thought.

“I mean the version of me in this world. How did she die?”

“I couldn’t save you,” mumbled Entrapta.

“What?”

The shock running through her body was so fast, Catra’s mind began spinning. She had been warned by her Hordak, in this world things would be quite different (she could almost bet he had left the part where the people in this world resembled the ones back in theirs on purpose) but never had she expected this, much less from Entrapta.

Looking around the answers, she spotted Adora standing in a distant side of the group, allowing the others more room to be closer to her. Working on a habit she got up and pulled her closer, flashbacks of a time where those who were slower became targets to take down.

“What are you talking about Entrapta?”

“It’s my fault. I couldn’t remove the chip from her neck, the connections were already tied to her nervous system and if I removed it without proper tools, I’d kill her instantly. So, I told Adora we should wait until we were back on Earth to do it. When we arrived, we spent most of our time trying to save everyone. She was a wonderful helper and we managed to reach Horde Prime’s ship safely because of her. She was the one that got me close to the signal and I was able to install my antivirus because she helped Scorpia remember us.”

“Super pal trio,” remembered Scorpia

“We saved the others but there was no saving her. When Prime realized what had happened, he also discovered she was still chipped. He waited until we were celebrating to connect himself to her and kill her,” Entrapta ran towards Catra and buried her face in her neck, “It’s my fault she’s gone.”

Catra let the princess cry. She wasn’t familiar with how this Entrapta was in relation to touch, given hers was very affectioned and loved going around hugging the world, so she let the princess be for as long as she felt necessary.

“You didn’t kill her,” spoke Catra, pulling her away so she could look into her face, “from what you’ve just told me, Horde Prime did it. He killed your Catra. You literally just say ‘had you taken the chip of her neck she would have died instantly’. Had you not listened to your own advice, then yes, you would be guilty. But you did what at the time seemed the best option. You couldn’t have predicted the following actions would have taken place, no data in the world could have predicted it. What happened was in no way your fault, I assure you that.”

“She’s right Entrapta,” interrupted Scorpia, “Wildcat would have died had you taken the chip off. Prime took her away from us, not you. You tried to save her and, in the process, saved all of us. We own you our lives because you risked everything for us.”

“Do all of you feel that way?,” wondered Entrapta, looking around the room.

The group gathered around Entrapta and hugged her in a form to express themselves. Words were tough to find, the group had noticed, and the events of the day had made them even tougher to do, never imagining this would be how the day would turn.

“See? They all agree this was not on you. Don’t blame yourself for something that was out of your control.”

“Thank you Catra. Thank you all.”

“Alright, let’s go everyone,” intervened Netossa, “It’s been a long day and I can bet Catra must be exhausted. Besides, we all should restore our energies if we want to help her get back into her world.”

“God, no matter the world, you’re still such a mom. No wonder you kid grew up to be the way they are.”

“We had a child?”

“Yeah…don’t you?”

“No.”

Frosta and Perfuma picked up on Spinnerella rubbing her belly almost unconsciously and gave each other a knowingly look. Was she…?

Adora also noticed the motion, but kept to herself, not trusting her voice at the moment.

“Damn, back in my world that kid is the joy of the group. Your version had them a few years prior to Prime even becoming a major treat. They’re 25 now, so you can imagine how much they talk, mostly about tech with me or Entrapta. Hordak has taken to teach them more about clones and the techniques he had develop over the years. Besides, you can imagine how nice it is to have a kid flying in the air, throwing nets at your enemies out of the fucking sky!”

“He has both our abilities?”

“Yeah, it’s actually they. They told us when they were 15, saying they weren’t comfortable with female or male pronouns…my Adora was actually the one that introduced us to this concept. Said it was common in the First Ones to not conform to one gender.”

“Can you tell us more about them?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Castaspella and Micah took this chance to send everyone back, providing a room to each, stating it was too late for them to return to their kingdom’s and it would be easier to discuss new plans in the morning if all were staying in one place. Taking Netossa’s words as reference, they reminded all to ‘recharge their energies’ and let the couple have this moment to themselves.

Reluctantly, all agreed. Everyone wanted to hear about Spinnerella and Netossa child, but understood it wasn’t their business.

Adora looked back one last time, seeing Catra’s lookalike smile when talking, before closing the door and running towards Glimmer.

Inside the princess’ room, she fell on the floor and cried, behind held by Bow and Glimmer.

Cried in a way she had never once before done.

Emotions were running high and it was starting to grow difficult to breath. She kept herself composed in front of others for the sack of it, but now, it was too much to conceal.

After so many years, Adora allowed herself to do what she feared the most.

She was letting the pain go.

After the couple had left the room, Catra was left in a similar state, being consoled by Micah and Castaspella while Juliet ran to grab some water for her. Being in the presence of those who had departure, even if they weren’t the same people took a lot out of her.

It was simply too much to take in but having someone to help pick up the pieces helped. She knew she wasn’t alone in this world.

The same way she knew this Adora was not alone.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a few hours since the lookalike regained her memory. She had already fed herself, shyly asking for more since it had been a while since she was able to eat at peace.

Everyone had already gathered in Bright Moon, waiting for their opportunity to get some answers from this Catra.

“Would you like us to leave you alone for now? We need to tell the rest of the people about your awake and…I’m sure you will need time to prepare for who you’ll meet,” questioned Castaspella.

“What do you mean?” she questioned.

“I’m not the only one you know that supposedly died back at the world you came from…,” responded Micah.

“…no.”

‘This is going to be a tough one,’ all thought.

Given the lack of an answer, the trio prepared to leave the room, but the lookalike took both Castaspella hand, preventing her from moving forward.

The plead in her eyes let her know she did not wish to be left alone, and Castaspella knew her lover would not let her be with this person, fearful of her intentions.

Rolling her eyes, she notified her brother they would be in there if there was need of it. Micah made a weird face, that caused the lookalike to laugh a bit, growing when Castaspella replied ‘It’s a woman’s thing’.

Micah shrugged, leaving them be. Inside the room, it was quiet once more.

The realization that in this world Adora would still be alive left a trail of questions to be answered, the main of all: was she happy?

Had she been able to recover from the grief and pain she herself lived all through the period of 9 years? Had she moved on and found someone to love her the way she loved the one that had died back in her world?

Heavens, the simple mention of ‘her world’ left her head spinning. This was not her world; these were not her friends and the Adora that was certain to come through the door was not **her** Adora.

“How is she?”

“Physically? Recovered. Emotionally? It’s still hard. She grew up with our version of you, shapeshifter. She loved her and, in an instant, she lost her. That’s something that takes parts of you to the grave. You lose something deep inside when someone you trusted parishes,” explained Juliet, “I think the reason behind her difficulty to move on is because she hasn’t allowed herself to feel. For the past 5 years, I’ve only seen her cry a few selected times, all those starting because she didn’t accept your departure or the denial of her feelings.”

“5 years? It’s only been 5 years in this world?”

“We can’t explain it as well. We’ll just have to wait for Entrapta to explain herself.”

Catra allowed herself to feel happiness. Maybe these weren’t her real friends, the one that fought alongside her, but at least it seemed her Entrapta was right. They had won the war and maybe, just maybe, they would help her world win as well.

“So, you two huh?”

“You still haven’t explained this whole ‘you died and Castaspella and Juliet aren’t together’ thing”, remarked Castaspella

“I come from a place where Horde Prime won. It was all a trick from Shadow Weaver. Horde Prime had found out about her and they used her abilities to manipulate all of us into thinking that shit of a Failsafe would work. Well, as you can guest, it didn’t. Things only got worse from then on. People died, kingdoms were destroyed and overthrown by Prime. Without She-Ra…we were powerless. It became a matter of how long you can survive, rather than how long until victory.”

“You mentioned Micah died. How?”

“Prime had managed to chip a lot of people in our group: Mermista, Scorpia, Spinnerella, Micah. Prime learned from Shadow Weaver what Entrapta planned to do with her computers and stopped her. Hordak managed to save her, but it was too late for the rest of them. The virus had spread to their nervous system and Prime took that as an opportunity to take them out.”

Neither woman interrupted her while she took a few breaths to calm herself down.

“You…at least the version I know of you escaped by a miracle. ‘My’ Juliet seemed to had taken Castaspella under some secret tunnels and fled the castle with a small group of soldiers. They found us and helped us create strategies to keep our asses safe. It was obvious something was growing between them two, but I never said a word. Kind of wished I had now. At least they would die knowing someone they loved, loved them as well.”

“You seem to speak of experience.”

“I told Adora I loved her before taking her into the Heart. The last words I spoke to her.”

“Did she reply?”

“She said she loved me too, and she couldn’t wait for all eternity to be with me. Her wish didn’t come true.”

The lookalike rose from the bed and walked to the window, admiring the trees, the people and the atmosphere surrounding this strange world. How she wished one day to be able to obtain this view back in her world.

The sound of an opening door forced her eyes to meet blue ones. The uncomfortable silence settled among them, the knowledge that this was the impossible turned possible.

The resemblance was so large, both Adora and Catra had difficulty to say a word. She had walked in the room alone, the others agreeing to see her one by one as to not overwhelming her.

What do you say to a dead person?

To someone who wears the face of your dead lover?

Neither women knew.

“Hey,” both awkwardly replied, hands moving in the air with no purpose.

“Have you eaten yet?,” their Adora asked offering a piece of bread to her.

“Yes. Thank you. I appreciate your concern.”

“I take it your name is…”

“Catra. Yeah. And yours is…”

“Adora.”

Silence returned once again. Neither knew how to overcome this strange impact of seeing someone they thought lost forever return to life. Catra stared silently, while Adora observed her.

She was taller than her Catra. Taller than herself, given Adora’s calculations. She was also much stronger, her arms built identical to Huntara’s size. Her right arm replaced by a metallic one, scars shaped around the end of her flesh, indicating it had been ripped off by a strong blow, an explosion Adora assumed.

She was leaning on the windowsill, in the way Octavia used to do when her leg was hurt during training. Adora figured something was wrong with her knees, given the constant bending she did with her legs.

“What happened to your knee?”

“Nothing much. Being on the run wears you out at some point.”

‘She’s perceptive,’ though Catra, ‘she hasn’t been in the room for 5 minutes and already noticed something is wrong with my body. As if having my Adora’s face wasn’t enough, she also had to have the brains?’

“Do you remember how you got here?”

“Yeah. Was a bit confused when I woke up, but my brain is working fine now. Entrap – My Entrapta, the one back in my world was the one that sent me to this world. According to her calculations this was the world with the closest ramification tied to ours and from her analysis you would have the technology to help us get and advantage against Horde Prime.”

“What makes her think we could help?”

The group had already been informed of the basics from Micah, so the mention to other worlds and different versions were not unfamiliar, besides having had the time to adjust having someone who resembled their dead friend, walking around the castle.

Catra’s lookalike continue to explain the reasoning behind her Entrapta’s thinking, impressing all three women with her speech and eloquence.

‘My Catra never talked this way,’ though Adora, ‘But then again, my Catra was never interested in technology the way this Catra seems to be.’

Catra’s lookalike finished her explanation asking for their help to not only return but to destroy Prime, once and for all.

Juliet rose from the bed and shook the lookalike’s left hand, promising to try her best to help as she could, even if it wasn’t much. The fact she had used the name ‘Catra’ showed she was serious on her promise.

Adora joined the promise, stating she too would help with what she knew. This may not be her Catra, but she deserved to be with her family, the way she had been for the past 5 years.

Diving into it, the four discussed the possibility of Catra’s lookalike talking with the rest of the group, or at least a part of it, since all had their own questions to her and her life in the other world.

Catra’s lookalike explained she rather see them all at once, getting over the initial shock. She was already mentally reminding herself these weren’t her dead friends revived, only a parallel version of them. They may resemble them, but they weren’t the real deal.

“You certain of this? We understand if you need time. I think out of all of us, I’m the most qualified to say it,” expressed Adora.

“Listen…,” the lookalike took a deep breath and calmed her heartbeat, “Adora. You aren’t my friends. You may have their faces, but you’re not my friends. And you are not MY Adora. Is it hard to see and hear your voice? Yes. It’s ripping me to shreds just standing here and seeing your face. But I also understand that there is no return to the past. The best I can do now, is try to return and save those who are alive and live my life the way my Adora would want me to. So yes, I want to see all of your group at once. Let them in, please.”

‘She’s right. We aren’t the people she knew. The same way she isn’t the Catra we knew,’ pondered Adora.

She thanked Castaspella for her hospitality, wishing she could retribute in some way. Juliet joked she could repay by not being a pain in the ass to them, to which the lookalike laughed.

Would they be prepared for the encounter? Adora couldn’t tell. Only after they brought her to their presence would it be possible to have an opinion on it. Even Catra’s lookalike was shaking with anxiety, wondering how the rest of the meeting would go.

Adora had so many questions for her. So many wishes to understand how this was even possible. But the lookalike’s words resonated in her, reminding her that this wasn’t in fact her Catra.

Just someone who possessed her look and voice.

There the obvious differences in her, such as the deficiency and the height. Some visible scars here and there, signs she came from a warzone, one that seemed to have been lasting for the longest time.

There were also the hidden ones, like the way she kept her body straight, the constant darting of her eyes as if waiting for a surprise attack to come, the hands close to her hips, wrapped in a belt that kept a weapon at hands reach.

This was a person trained to be a weapon, and from the looks of it, a damn good one.

Catra’s lookalike also noticed the smaller details this Adora had compared to hers. She had blue eyes, in oppose to the brown ones her Adora had; she was smaller and a bit skinnier than hers.

That detail, Catra assumed, due to her version’s death. She too had sunk deep, but after a while was forced to pick up the pieces and survive for the sake of those in her protection.

This Adora also seemed friendlier. Her aura, as her Perfuma would say, was vibrant and positive, as if those around her were wrapped in a warm bubble of heat and love. Her Adora was more reserved and military driven, rather than emotional.

Castaspella opened the door and explained to the group they could come inside.

Frosta was the first one to run inside, hugging the lookalike with all her strength. Screaming she was sorry, that she regretted all the bad things said and done to her by the princess and if given the chance, she would take them back in a heartbeat.

The teenagers attitude surprised them all, no one realizing the teenager carried that weigh with her for so long. But then again, she had been a kid when their Catra died. If they carried the guilt and remorse of watching someone closer to them die, Frosta’s teenager mind would probably not be able to process it the way they did.

Scorpia tried to explain this wasn’t their Catra, but the lookalike lifted a hand and stopped the taller princess.

“It’s alright. I understand.”

The lookalike let the princess cry herself for a few minutes before backing away and taking her face in her hands. Her eyes looking directly into the younger princess’ eyes, she smiled at her, wiping the tears with her left hand, scared to hurt her with the metallic one. Heavens knew that wouldn’t be the first one.

“Hey Frosta. That’s your name, right?” the princess nodded, “You’ve been keeping that inside of you for a long time now, haven’t you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have burst through the door and made this scene. I know I’m not the Catra you knew in this world. But from what I’ve been able to see, in the short time I’ve been awake, she was very loved. And I’m also certain, that even if you never used words to express them, she knew it in her heart, how much you cared for her. Her body may not be present but trust me when I say that her spirit still lingers, whether be in the ceremonies in her memory or the moments of heartache when you apologize for not expressing your feelings with words at the time. Wherever she lays, she knows.”

The room was in tears by now. They all had their regrets in relation to Catra, so many memories of a time where she was the common enemy, so many missed opportunities to show her that given the chance she would be accepted in their open arms and heal from the past.

This may not be their Catra, but it was a relieve to know a version of hers bearded no harm to them.

“Alright, my turn now!” cried Scorpia trapping both Frosta and Catra in her arms, both laughing at the princess attitude.

“I see your Scorpia is a hugger too,” commented Catra.

“Was I? Back in your world.”

“The best hugger to live.”

All had their chance to ask questions to the lookalike: what was it like back there? Did you build this arm? How did you do it? Is Swift Wind as annoying as he is in this world?

She answered them all, even the most difficult ones, such as how the chipped ones had died, what life was like under Prime’s control and what had happened to her arm.

They listened closely, paying attention to all details. Entrapta would sometimes interrupt with technical terms that Catra would recognize and engage in extended conversation. The older princess didn’t pick on the subtle change in the air surrounding her, enjoying the presence of someone with her knowledge on tech, even if that person looked too much physically like Catra.

Catra, on her behalf, was losing herself in the whirlwind of emotions. Seeing those who have departed back in her world was taking a lot more of hers than she expected. Keeping herself afloat was becoming a harder task than predicted.

Maybe not in this world, but back home, with the ones left behind, she could someday sit on the floor surrounded by her friends and enjoying the peace and quiet while reminiscing on old memories.

After the laughter had quieted down, Catra took a deep breath and regained courage to ask the one question she had been burning to know.

“How did I die?”

A pin could be heard drop on the floor by how profound the silence in the room was. She knew this had killed the joyful mood around them, but sooner or later she would have done it. ‘Might as well get over it already,’ thought.

“I mean the version of me in this world. How did she die?”

“I couldn’t save you,” mumbled Entrapta.

“What?”

The shock running through her body was so fast, Catra’s mind began spinning. She had been warned by her Hordak, in this world things would be quite different (she could almost bet he had left the part where the people in this world resembled the ones back in theirs on purpose) but never had she expected this, much less from Entrapta.

Looking around the answers, she spotted Adora standing in a distant side of the group, allowing the others more room to be closer to her. Working on a habit she got up and pulled her closer, flashbacks of a time where those who were slower became targets to take down.

“What are you talking about Entrapta?”

“It’s my fault. I couldn’t remove the chip from her neck, the connections were already tied to her nervous system and if I removed it without proper tools, I’d kill her instantly. So, I told Adora we should wait until we were back on Earth to do it. When we arrived, we spent most of our time trying to save everyone. She was a wonderful helper and we managed to reach Horde Prime’s ship safely because of her. She was the one that got me close to the signal and I was able to install my antivirus because she helped Scorpia remember us.”

“Super pal trio,” remembered Scorpia

“We saved the others but there was no saving her. When Prime realized what had happened, he also discovered she was still chipped. He waited until we were celebrating to connect himself to her and kill her,” Entrapta ran towards Catra and buried her face in her neck, “It’s my fault she’s gone.”

Catra let the princess cry. She wasn’t familiar with how this Entrapta was in relation to touch, given hers was very affectioned and loved going around hugging the world, so she let the princess be for as long as she felt necessary.

“You didn’t kill her,” spoke Catra, pulling her away so she could look into her face, “from what you’ve just told me, Horde Prime did it. He killed your Catra. You literally just say ‘had you taken the chip of her neck she would have died instantly’. Had you not listened to your own advice, then yes, you would be guilty. But you did what at the time seemed the best option. You couldn’t have predicted the following actions would have taken place, no data in the world could have predicted it. What happened was in no way your fault, I assure you that.”

“She’s right Entrapta,” interrupted Scorpia, “Wildcat would have died had you taken the chip off. Prime took her away from us, not you. You tried to save her and, in the process, saved all of us. We own you our lives because you risked everything for us.”

“Do all of you feel that way?,” wondered Entrapta, looking around the room.

The group gathered around Entrapta and hugged her in a form to express themselves. Words were tough to find, the group had noticed, and the events of the day had made them even tougher to do, never imagining this would be how the day would turn.

“See? They all agree this was not on you. Don’t blame yourself for something that was out of your control.”

“Thank you Catra. Thank you all.”

“Alright, let’s go everyone,” intervened Netossa, “It’s been a long day and I can bet Catra must be exhausted. Besides, we all should restore our energies if we want to help her get back into her world.”

“God, no matter the world, you’re still such a mom. No wonder you kid grew up to be the way they are.”

“We had a child?”

“Yeah…don’t you?”

“No.”

Frosta and Perfuma picked up on Spinnerella rubbing her belly almost unconsciously and gave each other a knowingly look. Was she…?

Adora also noticed the motion, but kept to herself, not trusting her voice at the moment.

“Damn, back in my world that kid is the joy of the group. Your version had them a few years prior to Prime even becoming a major treat. They’re 25 now, so you can imagine how much they talk, mostly about tech with me or Entrapta. Hordak has taken to teach them more about clones and the techniques he had develop over the years. Besides, you can imagine how nice it is to have a kid flying in the air, throwing nets at your enemies out of the fucking sky!”

“He has both our abilities?”

“Yeah, it’s actually they. They told us when they were 15, saying they weren’t comfortable with female or male pronouns…my Adora was actually the one that introduced us to this concept. Said it was common in the First Ones to not conform to one gender.”

“Can you tell us more about them?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Castaspella and Micah took this chance to send everyone back, providing a room to each, stating it was too late for them to return to their kingdom’s and it would be easier to discuss new plans in the morning if all were staying in one place. Taking Netossa’s words as reference, they reminded all to ‘recharge their energies’ and let the couple have this moment to themselves.

Reluctantly, all agreed. Everyone wanted to hear about Spinnerella and Netossa child, but understood it wasn’t their business.

Adora looked back one last time, seeing Catra’s lookalike smile when talking, before closing the door and running towards Glimmer.

Inside the princess’ room, she fell on the floor and cried, behind held by Bow and Glimmer.

Cried in a way she had never once before done.

Emotions were running high and it was starting to grow difficult to breath. She kept herself composed in front of others for the sack of it, but now, it was too much to conceal.

After so many years, Adora allowed herself to do what she feared the most.

She was letting the pain go.

After the couple had left the room, Catra was left in a similar state, being consoled by Micah and Castaspella while Juliet ran to grab some water for her. Being in the presence of those who had departure, even if they weren’t the same people took a lot out of her.

It was simply too much to take in but having someone to help pick up the pieces helped. She knew she wasn’t alone in this world.

The same way she knew this Adora was not alone.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day arrived with the company of the heavy rains of winter. Inside the large meeting room, all the princesses were gathered as they watched Entrapta and Hordak fill the white boards brough from the Fright Zone with calculations.

Silence reigned the room, each set of eyes carefully following their thought process. Entrapta was certain that the only way to make the portal work as an opposite function was by recreating the connection of the ramifications that had brought this Catra there.

“Wait a minute. That means you would be sending me to the exact time and place where I started, which is basically time travel. But I thought that was impossible? You can’t travel through time. At most you could sent me to the same location I was initially.”

“Actually, Hordak and I have been working on this theory for the past years. When our Catra opened up the portal, she was in Hordak’s lab, alongside Adora and me. By the time we returned, I discovered that no matter how much time had past in that alternate world, ours remained frozen, as if time had stood still in here. Sure, we accidently destroyed most of the evidence and data gathered alongside it, but that’s not important now. We ran some tests and believe the reason behind it is because the ramifications that connect multiple universes manage time differently. You could walk into one of them and leave 100 years later in the future when compared to yours.”

“That would explain why Catra says it’s been 9 years since Prime arrived in Etheria back in her world, but in ours it’s only been 5,” wondered Sea Hawk.

“Your saying that, even if my world is already ahead in time, I can go back to the point before my friends were taken, bring the tools to destroy Prime with me and change the future?”

“Yes.”

Catra stood mouth open, staring at both scientists. This could be it.

This could be her one shot at keeping her promise to Adora.

“Now, since you came in a period of time when most of our others selves had already passed away, we won’t be able to bring them back, but most likely will be able to at least prevent the capture of those who were still with you at the time. We’ll obviously need some time to work on making the portal work backwards, make sure the mathematics your Entrapta used are the same used in this new one, plus analyzing all the ramifications to figure out which one is that connects to your world, not to mention preparing the equipment that you will need to take…”

“Entrapta?”

Catra was towering over Entrapta, leaving the older princess a bit uncomfortable with the sudden proximity. Opening her arms, Catra let the princess know she was in search of a hug, having realized from prior observation that this version of her friend was not very keen on sudden physical contact.

Entrapta wrapped her arms around her without much pressure, still getting used to not only the difference in height, but also the texture and smell of the fur on this Catra. She still remembered how soft it felt to have Catra curled up against her, whereas this Catra had thick and asperous fur, one of the many signs of the environment she had been living for a long period of time.

“Thank you for doing this,” said looking at Hordak as well, “Thank you both.”

“Sure, because we mean nothing to this mission,” snarked Mermista.

The group laughed at her comment.

Adora noticed how this Catra’s laughter was more dragged and lower than her Catra’s was. She didn’t throw her head backwards or held onto her stomach the way her Catra used to do.

She didn’t tap her forehead with her index finger, forcing her to look into her eyes. Eyes that were not heterochromatic. The blue and yellow were no longer there, only a deep shade of green that seemed to follow every movement, the same way her blue eyes followed hers.

But then again, her mind decided to remind her, this wasn’t her Catra.

Why was it that she kept insisting on making these comparisons? Why did she felt the need to find details similar between both versions? Adora couldn’t tell.

She would later talk with Micah about the subject, getting a prolonged respond that summarized in “Your heart wishes to fill that empty space with the knowledge your brain refuses to deny. You WANT her to be your Catra, because it would be easier to accept than face the truth of reality.”

Without her knowledge, Catra had been doing the same.

This version of Adora was in such smaller ways different than hers, it was almost impossible to not notice it. For years, Catra had watched Adora in silence, paying attention to all she could learn. Now that she was standing in front of her lookalike, she felt the need to spend every second reminding herself this person was not the one that died. She was her own woman, with her own mannerism and ways of being.

Both looking forward to seeing what the next days would reveal them about the other.

“Well then, now that we know what to expect from this mission, where do we start?,” questioned Perfuma.

“Entrapta and I will be very occupied with the reconstruction of the portal. It would be wise to not only plan strategies to organize the group once Catra returns but also come up with ideas on how we can help her destroy Prime.”

“That’s a good point Hordak. Perfuma and Mermista, could you guys try to find Wrong Hordak? I’m sure he can help us out with his cloning knowledge, maybe we can even replicate that technology for Catra. Glimmer, Bow and Sea Hawk. Gather all the techno information you had on Prime’s robots, I’m certain that will be of use with this mission. Frosta, can you stay here with the two genius? I know this may seem like a tedious job, but given your ice powers, it would be better to have someone with a quick thinking around them in case something goes wrong and we need to secure the room. Spinnerella and Netossa will stay here with you as well. King Micah and Queen Castaspella have too much to due in order to maintain this at a low profile, so they won’t be able to be present very often,” ordered Scorpia to the group.

Everyone quickly followed her commends, Perfuma leaving a kiss on her cheek and a mumbled “I love you” before leaving with Mermista.

She could feel Adora’s eyes on her, waiting for what she was meant to do. Scorpia took a deep breath and turned to her friend.

“Adora, I’m certain Catra would like a visit around our world, or at least Bright Moon. What do you say we take Emily Jr. and show her around?”

“I’m sorry, who’s Emily Jr.?”

*****************

“THAT’S EMILY JR.?!?!”

Catra was certain the only possible way to describe what was in front of her to someone from her world would be nearly impossible.

The magnitude of the spaceship in front of her was something they would only dream of. Painted with a light shade of purple (which she could almost BET was this Entrapta’s idea), Catra observed as Scorpia activated the opening door with a voice command, leaving her open mouthed as the duo prepares to enter the ship.

“HOLY SHIT, THAT THING JUST OBEYED YOU!,” exclaimed Catra pointing in the direction of the door.

“Yeah, it does that. Amongst other things.”

Scorpia and Adora awed at the spark in Catra’s eyes, the wonder she expressed while staying in Bright Moon had been growing over the past few days she had been on bed rest.

For the first 3 weeks, Catra had been kept inside the castle, being treated by healers as well as Micah and Castaspella, anxious to start the process to take her back home, but at the insistence of the siblings, she had tried to calm down and keep the peace in the castle.

Now, a month after her arrival, she was fully recovered and with the confirmation of help from the people of this world, she wished to take some time to at least explore and see what other differences where out there when compared to her world.

Massaging the nub at the end of her severed arm, she tried to ignore the pain of the ghost limb, a nervous tik developed around the time she lost it.

Due to the punch Catra had given the wall the day he arrived, her metal prosthetics was malfunctioning, causing her a lot of discomfort. With her permission, Entrapta would keep it in the room turned lab, so that this worlds version of Bow could improve it.

‘Bow’ and ‘improve’ were two words Catra had never expected to hear in the same sentence. She had always known Bow to do one thing, and that was destroy.

The man was 6’7ft of pure muscle, a sign of years of training and fighting. The multitude of scars, the most prominent one across his right eye, blinded after Prime’s clones struck him with one their engines, gave him a mysterious and scary aura, a great asset to have in the middle of a war.

She could still hear his deep, raspy voice in her head, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as he consoled her after a nightmare. The man could be a beast, but he truly had a heart of gold.

Looking around the inside, Catra took in every little detail of this machinery. Making a mental note to ask Entrapta for a copy of the plans of this equipment, she waited for Adora and Scorpia to give her the grand tour.

“So, why we taking this beauty? Are we going to far lands?”

Adora was quiet, too concentrated in initiating the program of the ship, so Scorpia had to be the one to explain the reason behind their transportation choice.

Catra had been silent during this time, trying to let the new knowledge sink into her. Back in her world she was a hero, both Adora and her having escaped Shadow Weaver and the Commander, back when they were teenagers and joining the Survivors around the same time.

Being young and with little experience of the outside world, besides what was contained inside Gehenna, the duo spent weeks on the run, having arrived at Bright Moon, according to Angella on the 1st of April.

Weeks were spent solely on getting their strength back and restoring their energy. They gain a new home in Bright Moon, with a loving family, despite the struggle of trauma and nightmares.

In here she WAS the bad guy. The evil lurking in the shadows and the one people snarked and hated for the crimes committed against them.

“I understand you’re not used to being viewed as something different than what our versions did, but we can’t risk putting you in danger. There are still many people who have not forgiven Catra. This ship has an invisibility mechanism installed in them, so we should be able to travel without trouble.”

Adora’s voice was low and filled with pain. Catra imagined her mind must have been filled with so many memories, the way hers did when her Adora was the topic of conversation.

Conflict was filling Catra.

How should she act around this person? She knew not to bug Sea Hawk when he was working on his ships, that Entrapta enjoyed watching the night sky whenever she was in a bad mental state. Hell, she even knew that Juliet liked to make tea and observe Castaspella creating spells when she needed a bust of motivation.

The woman in front of her? She had no clue. This world’s Adora was a mystery to her, and Catra hated that.

“We’ll start with Bright Moon, and then Plumeria. I’m sure Melog will have a field day around you, plus it’s Scorpia and Perfuma’s kingdom so if we’re seen it won’t be viewed as too suspicious.”

“Maybe next we could go to the Kingdom of Snows? Take a look at how Drew is doing? Oh, we should also visit the Kingdom of Palates. That’s Spinnerella and Netossa’s kingdom by the way. I think for today those four are enough,” continued Scorpia.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we last checked on Drew,” Adora turned to Catra in order to explain, “Drew is the advisor Frosta places in charge whenever she has diplomatic events to attend. Nice kid. Clearly gay, but don’t bring it up, we haven’t had the talk with him.”

“You haven’t had the talk? What does that mean?,” laughed Catra, with a worried look on her face.

“It an inside joke between Frosta and Drew. According to her some members of his family still can’t accept he’s gay and dating Alex, so we usually joke how ‘we haven’t had the gay talk with him’. It pisses those homophobes off and we get a laugh out of it.”

“That’s rough. Who’s Alex?”

“Drew’s partner. They’ve been dating for 6 months, amazing person. They also go by they/them, like that kid back in your world.”

“Bones.”

“No, it’s Alex.”

Catra laughed out loud, “No, my kid’s name is Bones. They tried going by Corpse but….yeah it didn’t go well with their moms. Bones was more accepted because…well anything was better than Corpse.”

“Bones. Has a nice ring to it,” exclaimed Adora.

“It does, doesn’t it?,” said Catra loudly, “It’s so badass as well, like ‘Bones!’”

Scorpia stayed back and enjoyed the conversation going between the duo in silence. It was the first time she had seen Adora smile so freely and relaxed, and she would try the most to keep that energy around.

She had seen the destruction Catra’s death had caused on her, the devastation of her spirit being torn apart, resting low for the first years but roaring loud once the dust settled and Adora had no other option but to accept the truth. While everyone had suffered with her death, Adora had been the one to take the largest hit.

She just hoped that same energy didn't return when it was time to say goodbye.


	5. Part.1

It was a good day. Truly it was.

Catra had visited all the kingdoms that Adora and Scorpia had planned to see, a feeling of nostalgia waving over her, since they were so different than the ones back home.

The kingdom of Bright Moon was so much more colorful, bright (she swore that she could feel Scorpia’s urge to say some joke about her word choice) and overall friendlier than the version she knew back home. Even before the war, people weren’t this heartwarming to a stranger who kept their face hidden.

A woman seemed to recognize her ( _not me, Catra’s face._ She kept forgetting these people were not scared of her, but of the person she resembled) but placed a finger over her mouth, in a clear sign she would not tell a soul she was there. Her wooden cane and warm smile drew Catra closer to her, a thousand questions running over her mind. Adora and Scorpia had lost themselves in conversation with some locals, so she was clever to not lose sight of them while approaching the older woman.

“Hello dearie. My, how long has it been since I’ve seen that face!”

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m not who you remember. I’m-“

“Oh don’t worry dear Catra. I know you are not my Adora’s loved one. I have known of your arrival for a while now. Oh, berries! I should get some for the pie!”

“But…how? And why didn’t you say something to your Adora?”

“Oh dearie…somethings are better left for the right time. Your arrival shook the balance of things in this world. Had I said something, Adora wouldn’t have been able to heal the way she is now.”

Catra remained quiet during her explanation, soaking up the words directed at her, “I think I understand. The Adora from this world seems to have this weird complex that she needs to save everyone, at least Glimmer is always complaining about it. She probably would have dragged everyone to my world and gotten herself hurt or worse. I hadn’t considered that possibility before. Thank you…”

But it was too late for appreciation. The woman had disappeared into thin air, and no matter how much Catra searched, she was nowhere to be found.

“Hey friend!”

A scream brought her back. Scorpia ran into her direction, standing so close to her, Catra felt the need to try and back away, but a bright red pinch pulled her into a hug.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t risk anyone seeing you. Who were you looking for?”

“I understand. I don’t know her…she had this big pink hair and I’m pretty sure I could see butterflies surrounding her? Am I going insane, Scorpia?”

“Oh, that’s Madam Razz. She’s great, don’t worry about her. She’s a little coocoo on the head but she’s trustworthy. Mermista has this theory that she’s a time traveler or someone like you that came from another dimension into ours. She talks really weird and seems to know a lot about the past.”

“Good to know.”

Meeting Melog was an out of that world experience. He seemed to know her inside out from the very moment she entered his sight. For the first few seconds they were in Catra’s presence, Melog didn’t move. Catra was worried about this reaction, grabbing Adora’s arm softly to ask if she was about in danger.

‘God fucking dammit, why did I not bring my knife?,’ thought Catra.

Adora assured her that Melog was simply trying to sense your emotions. The magical cat seemed to understand Adora, because they approached Catra at a slow pace, sitting closer to her hand and pushing their head against it.

“This is the best thing ever,” marveled Catra, while petting Melog’s head.

Staying closer to Adora during their whole visit in Plumeria, Catra noticed how their colors changed in specific moments.

Red for when someone made sarcastic comments about this world’s Catra, something Catra seemed to notice came mostly from older people, rarely from those on the younger side; yellow when Adora nearly fainted and Scorpia scolded her for not having eaten anything that day (Catra made a mental note to never get on this Scorpia’s bad side, because holy shit, she could be scary when mad), and a different shade of their natural brown and blue colors whenever Adora looked at her.

Few times, the animal even jumped on top of her, licking her face with excitement and grabbing her cloth to pull them closer. Catra didn’t understand if their actions where because they believed Catra was the deceased version or simply because he wanted to include her more on the activities. She liked to believe it was more the second option.

Palates was a magnificent kingdom, the largest one of all they had visited. The married couple took them in with open arms and spent long hours just talking in the castle’s garden. Netossa had explained Spinnerella had been sick for the past 2 weeks and the fear of something being wrong with the baby lead them to cancel all diplomatic events planned for the next month so the healers could guarantee she was alright.

“BABY? YOU’RE HAVING A BABY?,” screamed both Adora and Scorpia jumping up and down with Netossa with joy.

They had wanted to do the same with Spinnerella, but given the news, they stayed with just a ‘congratulations’.

“You don’t need to worry. The healers have told me everything is going according to plan and Perfuma has been helping me meditate to train my body to relax during stressful situations.”

“Perfuma knows?,” wondered Scorpia.

“No, she just thinks I’ve been sick due to stress and she’s helping me, what did she say darling? Recover my good vibes.”

“Yup, that’s Perfuma,” joked Adora.

“How far along are you?,” asked Catra.

“2 months. I discovered after I believe 3 weeks into your arrival. We have been trying for almost 3 years but haven’t had any luck. When you mentioned our other selves had a child we…”

“We were jealous. It seemed we would never have that chance, but then we did,” explained Netossa, hugging her wife on the side.

“I’m happy for you too. If you’re anything like the couple I know, that kid’s gonna be very happy.”

“Thank you Catra. It means a lot to us to hear that.”

Nothing major had happened during the tour.

Then why did she feel like that? As if she was a fraud, replacing someone while fooling those around her, in hopes they never uncover the truth?

Every seemed so happy, contempt even with the lives they lived, whether be it with their close family or their loved ones. Some even lived a happy secluded life, far away from the trouble of the crowded kingdoms.

It felt too good. Too perfect. Everyone else was able to live this magnificent life, to explore the world and its wonders in ways she could never imagine doing back in her world. She could never walk the streets of Palates and wave at the civilians, arms linked on Adora’s while children played made up games. She could never visit Bright Moon and annoy Glimmer about Angella’s constant worry or go down to the kitchen and visit the bakers in order to bribe them of some cookies.

She was not destined for this life. This wonderful world was not hers, and she should not get attached to it.

She was here on a mission.

To gather intel on Prime’s defeat, bring reinforcement to her world (hopefully machinery, they had all agreed on not putting anymore people at risk) and beat the shit out of Prime.

The longer she stayed in this world, the longer her friends remained in danger.

Bow had convinced her, Entrapta and Hordak would be capable of sending her back as they originally planned, but after nearly a month trapped in this world her chances seemed to lower at every passing minute.

She had to do something. She needed to do such.

Walking at a fast pace, she crossed the similar corridors of Bright Moon, passing a few guards that were polite enough to give her a ‘good morning’ or a ‘afternoon miss’.

Before she could even reach the room where she knew Entrapta and Hordak would be working, she stumbled against a small skinny blonde man. He scratched his growing beard and looked up, prepared to scream at whoever at banged against him.

“What the hell is…Oh it’s you…”

“Yes, do I know you?”

“I’m sorry. No, you probably don’t, but I knew you. Or the version of you. It’s still a lot to wrap my head around this ‘Catra’s lookalike is living in Bright Moon now’.”

“Oh, you knew her?”

“Knew her?,” the laugh that came from this man, lead Catra to chuckle a bit. He had a contagious laugh.

“I hated her! She was the worst, always bossing everyone around and acting superior to the world! God, she was a pain in the ass!”

“Oh…”

Catra wasn’t prepared to hear about this new information. Most of the people she had heard that were closer to her always said positive things about her.

A part of her wanted to continue her path, go to Entrapta and demand new information on the status of the portal.

But then again, when could she hear about the other side of the woman she resembled?

“Could you tell me more about her? It seems like you knew her well!”

“Of course. The name’s Kyle by the way.”

“Uhmm, Catra.”

“Would you be okay if I called you visitor? Don’t get me wrong but calling you Catra and talking about the Catra I knew will become confusing over time.”

“As you prefer.”

They walked silently side by side. She took the time to observe him from stolen glances every now and then.

He was a bit clumsy and tended to drag his feet every now and then. His hands would rise to his face to scratch a specific spot in his beard.

‘Probably not used to having a beard’, thought Catra.

His closing exposed his arms and Catra could see fainting scars of scratches, deep ones. She feared to ask the origin of them. His smile accompanied him all the way to the garden, where a woman and, IS THAT A LIZARD?!?!, stood closer together. The lizards head laid on the woman lap, while she read a strange book. Holding it with one hand, she caressed the creature’s head with the other.

“Guys! You will not believe who I found!”

“Is that the lookalike?”

The lizard made a sound but Catra didn’t understand the meaning behind it. Kyle laughed and nodded. Guess she’ll have to wait for them to translate him.

“About time we had a chat with you lookalike. So, how had Bright Moon been treating you?”

“Good. Very good, actually. Spend my days either hiding my face or stuffing it with food.”

“The name’s Lonnie. This is Rogelio and I guess you already know Kyle. Glad to finally have a chat with you.”

Once again, the creature made sound. Catra worried about the lack of interpretation, so she questioned the duo on how they could know what he talked about.

“Kyle, Rogelio and I grew up together in the Horde. Over time we developed a method to know what the hell this dude is talking about. Don’t worry, he’s just saying how weird it is to see Catra’s face with a smile attached to it.”

“Was she really that bad? All the people I’ve talked to only said good things about her.”

“Have you had any in depth discussion with Scorpia on HOW Catra treated her, visitor?”, interjected Kyle

“No…”

“Once she returns from the mission, pull her aside and ask her. You’ll be surprised with what you learn.”

“Was it that bad?”

“It’s not our place to tell you that. Just ask her yourself.”

“Ish Lonnie, take it down a notch. Don’t worry, visitor. It’s not **you** she’s still a bit wary about. Catra was a bitch back when we lived together. Hell, even growing up with her was shitty.”

“It’s strange to hear about her life in this world…I grew up with Angella and Glimmer, so I guess my perspective on this will be different from yours.”

“You grew up in Bright Moon? How did that happen?,” questioned Lonnie

“It’s a long story.”

“We have time. It’s 2 in the afternoon. The rest of the people won’t return today at least.”

More groaning from Rogelio, this time it seemed he had made a joke, given the laughter that erupted from Kyle and Lonnie.

“He said ‘knowing the people in the nearby kingdoms the way I do, they’ll throw a party and get both Adora and Bow drunk of their minds’. Poor Perfuma. She hates when Adora drinks”, explained Lonnie.

“Mostly because her hero complex kicks in overdrive whenever she’s drunk!”

More laughter came from the four.

Catra stood in the circle chuckling at the three, wondering if this drinking thing had been a constant in her life the way it had become back when her Adora died.

“So tell us visitor, how the hell did you manage to escape the Horde?”

“Will you promise to tell me all about Catra once I’m done?”

“You have our word, you will know our side.”

“I guess it all started back when we were 12…”


End file.
